The Watercooler -- Impressions, philosophical discussion and general banter. Index on first page. All welcome.
- Thread starter Rockwell75
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Hey everyone. I went into @tgx78 studio here in Vancouver to pick up my Serratus. I was greeted by Jim and he gave me a tour of his studio. He offered me some refreshments. We sat down and had a brief discussion about the development of his ear buds. I remember auditioning his prototype early this year. Looking at his work station, it was endearing to see the passion and time he dedicates to this hobby. These are all hand made. He showed me his latest work: Ripple. When I think of earbuds, I think airplane freebies given out by stewardess'. As an IEM guy, I was curious to hear what differences an artisan version would have. Let's jump into some impressions:
Ripple & N8ii - Classical Music
I was interested in mainly catching up with Jim. I was able to audition a few full songs so take it this for what you will. This fit really well on me. Because of the open back nature of these not "sealing" completely, I noticed a large soundstage and lack of ear pressure. I liked it. It reminded me of how organic vintage tube sounds. It had lush mids which smoothed out the high pitched violin notes. I am heard a neutral bass quantity but a darker timbre overall. These also require a lot of power. I had to run twice the amount of volume: High gain on the N8ii P+ at 60 volume. These grabbed my attention. I definitely want an extended demo session.
Red Serratus - Ifi Go Bar - First impressions (3 Hours)
The Serratus sounds colder than the Tgxear Ripple. It has less mid bass but more sub bass than Ripple. I got it paired to the Go Bar which gives the notes more density. As a standalone, I would call a neutral timbre. Its not a resolution monster like the Supermoon but has more accurate timbre for instruments. There's a naturalness and an open sound that is different to IEMs. Comfort wise these are right up my alley. Its got a smooth relaxed diffused sound. Not a fair comparison but the transients are not clearly defined like the Traillii. The fact that my brain is comparing these to the Traillii which I consider the timbre king ($6600 vs $200) 3% of the MSRP, means that the Serratus is something special. I left these burning in for 2 hours. Gave it another try with the N8ii this time.
Red Serratus with N8ii:
Started out with classical once again with tubes on then moved into R&B, rock and electronic. Wow these scale massively. For instrumental music, I might still lean IFI GO Bar for the note density but for electronic I prefer the N8ii. I like the pronounced sub bass over the mid bass. Bass gets a texture boost swapping from the Go bar. While being on the leaner side, the mid bass still thumps hard enough for R&B music. I also noticed a blacker background for better separation from different frequencies (less diffused), more lower and high frequency extension (violin resonances linger longer), stronger dynamics. Overall, these are still on the relaxed side of things, most noticeably the softer treble. One advantage these have over other IEM sets that I have tried is the effortless cohesion. Each song that I put it through sounded "right".
These are an addicting alternative to traditional IEMS. As mentioned previously, one con is that they don't isolate well for noisy environments. The reciprocal end of that is an open sound stage (akin to a smaller portable open headphone). These feel light in the head. I have smaller-average sized ears. Because the shells are thin and doesn't touch my earlobes I feel like I can wear them all day. This was a fun experience for me and a good introduction to ear buds in general. Great work @tgx78.
Ripple & N8ii - Classical Music
I was interested in mainly catching up with Jim. I was able to audition a few full songs so take it this for what you will. This fit really well on me. Because of the open back nature of these not "sealing" completely, I noticed a large soundstage and lack of ear pressure. I liked it. It reminded me of how organic vintage tube sounds. It had lush mids which smoothed out the high pitched violin notes. I am heard a neutral bass quantity but a darker timbre overall. These also require a lot of power. I had to run twice the amount of volume: High gain on the N8ii P+ at 60 volume. These grabbed my attention. I definitely want an extended demo session.
Red Serratus - Ifi Go Bar - First impressions (3 Hours)
The Serratus sounds colder than the Tgxear Ripple. It has less mid bass but more sub bass than Ripple. I got it paired to the Go Bar which gives the notes more density. As a standalone, I would call a neutral timbre. Its not a resolution monster like the Supermoon but has more accurate timbre for instruments. There's a naturalness and an open sound that is different to IEMs. Comfort wise these are right up my alley. Its got a smooth relaxed diffused sound. Not a fair comparison but the transients are not clearly defined like the Traillii. The fact that my brain is comparing these to the Traillii which I consider the timbre king ($6600 vs $200) 3% of the MSRP, means that the Serratus is something special. I left these burning in for 2 hours. Gave it another try with the N8ii this time.
Red Serratus with N8ii:
Started out with classical once again with tubes on then moved into R&B, rock and electronic. Wow these scale massively. For instrumental music, I might still lean IFI GO Bar for the note density but for electronic I prefer the N8ii. I like the pronounced sub bass over the mid bass. Bass gets a texture boost swapping from the Go bar. While being on the leaner side, the mid bass still thumps hard enough for R&B music. I also noticed a blacker background for better separation from different frequencies (less diffused), more lower and high frequency extension (violin resonances linger longer), stronger dynamics. Overall, these are still on the relaxed side of things, most noticeably the softer treble. One advantage these have over other IEM sets that I have tried is the effortless cohesion. Each song that I put it through sounded "right".
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How did you get it already? Other countries got it before US??cross post
MaggotBrain
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Will post my full impressions of my DMPZ1 at a later date as I‘ve only had it one day - but when it comes to the Sony house sound - Ric Flair said it best:cross post
Learn to love it because it’s the best things going today. Wooo!
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klyzon
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well, it arrived yesterday locally and it was available to be collected. I think AK mentioned that some countries distributors set release date so everyone in that geo will be able to get it at the same time.
Xinlisupreme
Headphoneus Supremus
TG334 fit as a CIEM to my medium ears and far better than the smaller mum ToGo!334
Um, I'll go into detail in the review, but Gaea and Z1R aren't really in the same ballpark, at least not when it comes to bass. I'll compare the two for the review notes so I can talk specifics.
Had a lot of fun today with @drftr and ended up talking way more than listening to iems.
Hoping to have more pleasant interactions with members here in the future!
Hoping to have more pleasant interactions with members here in the future!
drftr
Headphoneus Supremus
I wasn't even expecting to be able to demo your DX320! Totally changes the playground, even though it wasn't the very best match between my ears and the IEMs that were on the table: U18t, Kublai Khan, and Sultan, as I like my IEMs already borderline bright. Since there was no TOTL copper cable in the house we ran a bit out of tools to dampen upper frequencies as the stock cables of said animals are simply not bringing out the best. I was very happy to hear that my earlier RS6 demo wasn't an exception and that there's enough posibilities to fine tune the sound of my future chain. But if my next meet up with one of you is going to take over 2 hours of talking too I might wanna pull the plug on this hobby!Had a lot of fun today with @drftr and ended up talking way more than listening to iems.
Hoping to have more pleasant interactions with members here in the future!
Tnx much for taking the time to meet, Steve, much appreciated...
drftr
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What is the tip for U18t? Is it Azla light standard? Any recommend tip for Kublai Khan?Had a lot of fun today with @drftr and ended up talking way more than listening to iems.
Hoping to have more pleasant interactions with members here in the future!
5 hours with the Serratus went by quickly. Listening to Canon D now by Krusty Fedeux.
This transducer is capturing the essence of what this track is trying to achieve. It sounds effortless, relaxed and open. Violins extend nicely but remain smooth. Xylophones sound gentle and serene. The highlight so far is the tuning. There is enough resolution to reveal the subtleties but not overdone to the point where high pitched instruments peak or sound unnatural.
This transducer is capturing the essence of what this track is trying to achieve. It sounds effortless, relaxed and open. Violins extend nicely but remain smooth. Xylophones sound gentle and serene. The highlight so far is the tuning. There is enough resolution to reveal the subtleties but not overdone to the point where high pitched instruments peak or sound unnatural.
The tip on the 18t (it's drftr's btw haha) is Azla light. I personally enjoy the Final E tips on Kublai Khan the most.
Really helps bring out the BCD effect
drftr
Headphoneus Supremus
Steve said it all, but on KK (and Sultan) I prefer the 64Audio/Spinfit 145s as it takes out just a little of brightness. But for the U18t these are my new favourites.
drftr
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From your feedback I gather that it looks that way. I was just reading about Traillii in the other thread where one chap considered it the IEM version of Susvara cans. Also, thanks for mentioning our GO Bar and I'm happy to read that it worked well with Red Serratus
Can’t wait for our meetup! It is what makes this hobby and thread special. Small moments like these and small talk! Gold!I wasn't even expecting to be able to demo your DX320! Totally changes the playground, even though it wasn't the very best match between my ears and the IEMs that were on the table: U18t, Kublai Khan, and Sultan, as I like my IEMs already borderline bright. Since there was no TOTL copper cable in the house we ran a bit out of tools to dampen upper frequencies as the stock cables of said animals are simply not bringing out the best. I was very happy to hear that my earlier RS6 demo wasn't an exception and that there's enough posibilities to fine tune the sound of my future chain. But if my next meet up with one of you is going to take over 2 hours of talking too I might wanna pull the plug on this hobby!
Tnx much for taking the time to meet, Steve, much appreciated...
drftr
